LIKE FATHER, NOT LIKE SON (1 Chronicles 22)

You are not the one to honor me by building a sanctuary--you've been responsible for too much killing, too much bloodshed. But you are going to have a son and he will be a quiet and peaceful man. (1 Chronicles 22:7-10)

David wanted to build a temple for God, but God said no, his son would build it instead.

Today's verses led me to think about how different David and Solomon were.  Oh, they had some major traits in common. They both had a heart for God, an almost unhealthy interest in women, and musical/writing ability.

David was a man of bloodshed, and Solomon lived in a time of peace. But the difference relies on more than military conflict. It's also a matter of their personalities.\\

David wore his heart on his sleeve. He danced before the Lord with abandon. He bought the threshing floor where the plague ended with his hand over his heart, "I won't offer something to God that cost me nothing." He grieved his son's death and his friend Jonathan's death deeply.  Whatever David felt, the kingdom knew--that included the times he went to war.

In that sense, Adonijah and Absalom were probably a lot more like David than Solomon ever was. Absalom was furious about what  happened to his sister and let it color his judgment. Perhaps David secretly favored Absalom as his favorite son, because he reminded David of himself. Adonijah had the gumption to make himself king when David was close to death.

While young Solomon waited, not acting--probably realizing the time wasn't right, like David when he was in the caves so many years before.

Instead God chose the son the least like David as the next king. Quiet, peaceful Solomon, the son who would rather negotiate a settlement than fight it ought, who could listen to all sides of an argument and come up with a solution that was fair and best for all. Part of his wisdom was supernaturally, God-enhanced. But by nature he was a lover and not a fighter.

And Solomon knew how to be tough. He followed through on his father's final wishes to get rid of threats. When his son become king, people complained to him on the high taxes and work force required by Solomon. But he didn't usually do the dirty deeds himself.

Of course God's choice of Solomon as king shows His mercy--as He included Tamar and Rahab in Jesus's ancestry, now Bathsheba joins those other shady women. God chose the offspring of the union between David and his one-time-mistress-now-wife as a king.

God chose two wildly different men as the kings of Israel's golden age. Both leaders, both committed to God--but very different.

News flash: God doesn't use a single type of individual to lead or for any needed tasks. Certainly He calls a wide variety of people to write!.

Question: Are you  more of a David or a Solomon? Or someone else?

THE OTHER GIANT KILLERS (1 Chronicles 20)

Goliath wasn't the only giant in ancient Canaan.

He had four  brothers (or relatives)--the explanation, I've heard, for "Why did David carry five sling shots?"

Killing Goliath earned David national fame and the hearts of the people. That catapulted the unknown shepherd from Bethlehem to a candidate for man of the year.

As is the nature of such things, it didn't take long for giant-killing to become tame. By the time four other men repeated David's feat (although not with a sling shot, mind you), all they earned was a footnote in the Bible, a position of honor but not leadership.

Sibbecai killed Sippai of the "clean of the giants."  We're not even told how, except we know that Sibbecai was one of the mighty 30. He probably fought on the front line. An ordinary day turned into the day he became a giant killer.

Elhanan killed Lahmi, Goliath's brother. Elhanan wasn't one of the 30; that Elhanan was the son of Dodo, but Elhanan the giant-killer was the son of Jair. Not as much was expected of him--any more than they expect any good from the young David--but he came through.

David's nephew Shimea killed an unnamed giant with six fingers and six toes on each hand and foot. Perhaps family expectations played a role, but none of David's other relatives repeated his feat.

Wow, I feel a lot of this myself.

• David's faith inspired faith in others.  Faith gave courage to doubt-filled hearts.
• What is considered a miracle today will be considered ordinary tomorrow. I may repeat someone else's recipe for success and even succeed, but I am unlikely to receive as much recognition.
• Another reminder--since it is a common problem for me--that I shouldn't compare myself to others as a writer. Any area, of course, but I am keenly aware of the temptation as a writer.
• Any day may become a "giant-killing" day.
• Any person may be called upon to kill a giant.
• These men succeeded because--they showed up for work. We never know when those God-created opportunities will arise. They often happen on the days I feel the worst, and God forces me to minister to others--or ignore the clear calling God has placed on me.

Fought any giants lately?  I guess hospitalization and bedrest count for me. 

PRAYER, CORPORATE AND PERSONAL (1 Chronicles 16-17)

I couldn't decide on which verse to write about today and then I realized they're both about the same subject: prayer. 

David gave the job of leading worship to Asaph (who wrote a number of Psalms.) What interested me was the description of worship: to lead in intercession, giving of thanks and praising God.  My mind jumped to the "hand" description I use to teach children about prayer: Praise God for who He is: Thank Him for what He has done; confess your sins; pray for others; pray for yourselves.

Apparently that is at the heart of prayer, especially in corporate worship. And since we know Asaph wrote Psalms along with David, much of the prayer happened in song.

In chapter 17, David is praying a personal prayer in response to God's promise to establish his kingdom. In part, he says, "You looked on as a Somebody, even though You know me as I am."

Here is the meat of prayer. David dialogues with God, responding to God's actions on his behalf, and talks back. Not only thank you, but how he felt about it.  Intensely personal (so how did the writer of Chronicles know what David said?), the words resonate with me.

I feel like I am low on the list of importance. I fight feeling invisible and feel unworthy when attention is showered on me.  I feel like perfection is required to be a Somebody and I know how imperfect I am. In other words, as David said, "You know me as I am."

God knew all about David's weaknesses--and made him a Somebody in spite of them.

News flash: We are all Somebodies in the kingdom of God. Not a one of us in important.

Let's worship the God who made us Somebodies as we worship together this weekend.

DIVINE SYNERGY (1 Chronicles 14)

David was famous all over the place, far and near; and God put the fear of God into all the godless nations. (1 Chronicles 14:17)

David might not have prayed Jabez's exact prayer, but he had a similar experience. He was honored: respected, ethical in his conduct, and famous in far-flung places.  God certainly enlarged his borders; Israel ruled the most ground during David and Solomon's reigns.

If David had remained in Bethlehem, tending to his father's sheep, he probably would never have achieved fame. I complain about writing for 14 years before my first book was published. David waited seventeen years between God's promise and the fulfillment. A man's man--a warrior, strong, ready to even any score--and a woman's man, one who obviously loved women and wrote beautiful poetry. Love him or hate him, everyone knew about King David. Israel showed up on the nightly news on a regular basis.

In other words, David worked to become famous and studied the art of war to become better.

But then God enters the picture.  God put fear into the surrounding godless nations.

Another paradox.   David fought the battles; but God put fear into their hearts.

Whatever God calls us to do, He moves ahead of us, preparing the way. Work is hard. Writing novels is hard and takes training and practice and perseverance.

But lest I ever believe I am published only because of my work, my talent--here is another reminder that God put an open heart in the agents and editors I have worked with.

God takes our human offerings and makes them supernatural.

WHAT'S IN A NAME? (1 Chronicles 1)

Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, MAHALALEL, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah (1 Chronicles 1:1-4)

After finishing 2 Kings yesterday, with its sad ending of Judah joining Israel in exile. 1 Chronicles takes us back to the beginning--all the way back, to the first man. Chronicles continues the names and lines of Jewish tribes, making it possible for post-exile Jews to affirm their Jewish identity.

Important, personal records--but also boring.

So imagine my surprise when five words into the first chapter, in between all those names I do recognize (Adam, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah), I run across Mahalalel. 

You see, recently I have undertaken a study of popular boy's and girl's names throughout U.S. History. One appeared during Colonial times through the early nineteenth century which I had never heard before: Mahala.

Not exactly the same name, but close enough to suggest they come from the same root word. Biblical names were very common in colonial times, but Mahala didn't sound like any name I had ever heard before.

So I looked up the girl's name, Mahala. Its origins are uncertain: in eastern Europe, it's a last name (or maybe that was Mahalalel) referring to a community or neighborhood. There is even a town named Mahala in Texas.

Several sites trace "Mahala" to Cherokee roots, where the name means "woman."

Community. Woman. Great building blocks.

Even the Hebrew word has different meanings, either tenderness or barenness. Since I doubt any parent would name their child "barren," I suspect they meant "tenderness."

If we combined all the meanings, we might have a woman characterized by tenderness who lives in a recognizable, vibrant community. A lovely meaning.

I've always been fascinated. As a child I hated my name: Darlene Hope (Sparks). I know that "hope" came from "now abideth these three, faith, hope and charity, but the greatest of these is charity." When I learned that Darlene means "beloved," I rejoiced in the blessing my parents had given me in my name: beloved hope. What greater gifts could they give to me, than the security of love and the motivation of hope?

I might just have to write that Boston tea party story and name my heroine Mahala.